I just had this conversation with a good friend.
She had Covid in early February. Natural antibodies should protect her to July. She’s going to wait for 3-4 months like you for a couple reasons. The main one is 90 days seems to be the most suggested wait.
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@Sue2, One way to come up with a monthly price off-Airbnb is to see what unfurnished-and-with-no-utilities-included places that are similar to yours in sizes and amenities (parking, etc) are renting for, add in your highest possible monthly utility costs and then add in $100-200 for the cost to replace the linens (because you will have to replace some after a 3 month stay) plus wear and tear on your furnishings (depending on the quality of your furnishings) and use that price. For example (I’m making up the numbers but looked at your listing for amenities and zillow for comps, there was only one house in the area available, the rest are apts so I’d take that into account as well):
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$1800 = avg price of 2 BR/2Bath houses and apts near your location but they don’t all have a washer/dryer, a dishwasher, yard, bbq grill, garage, basement, parking, etc and none are furnished and they don’t include utilities
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$700 = High-end of cost utility bills/month including electric, gas/oil, internet, cable, water, sewer, snow removal
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$200 = cost to replace some of 2 sets of towels, sheets, duvet covers and wear and tear on furnishings
$1800 + $700 + $200 = $2700 is your starting point, but if you don’t get a lot of offers for long term stays and would like a break, you could go down a bit or add to it for the pet and also compare it to the next number
The other way to come up with a monthly price off-Airbnb is to honestly decide how much you would really expect to make for those 3 months on Airbnb and divide by 3, subtract how much it costs you (cleaning, laundry, snacks, your time, etc) for the number of stays you’d expect for the 3 months on Airbnb for whatever you think you will make and use that price. E.g., just because your nightly rate is $127, it doesnt mean you are going to book all of the nights in a 3 month period. And you are also going to have some costs during the 3 months on Airbnb. For example (I don’t know your occupancy rates but this year is so weird you probably don’t either ')
- 91 nights (3 months) at 80% occupancy = 73 nights of Airbnb
- 73 nights x $127 and divided by 3 (months) = $3090/monthly from Airbnb for 3 months
- 73 nights = approximately 12 stays (based on number of weekends)
- 12 stays x $75 (your cleaning fee, assuming it covers your costs on average) and divided by 3 = $300/monthly cleaning costs
- So, for each month, $3090 - $300 in cleaning costs = $2790 from Airbnb, not including costs above cleaning (snacks, time, etc)
Both numbers are close to each other, $2700 from the first calculation and $2790 from the second calculation. But if you subtract time and costs for snacks and incidentals with Airbnb, it’s even closer. Personally, I think it’s worth at least $200/month to not have to deal with Airbnb, so I’d price it at $2500. It is only $500 more than her hotel room and I think $500/month more value is definitely added by having a real house, yard, etc, so it also seems fair.
TL;DR: $2500 a month @sue
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Wow, thank you so much for this! I have been going over this in my mind and never even thought to calculated the way you did.
This was super super helpful. Thank you so much.
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If it’s cheap or not depends on the location doncha think ?
We know the location, it’s in her profile.
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I agree that 127 is cheap, regardless of the location in the US. (Which, as @JJD says is in the OPs profile).
With two bedrooms the house could sleep four people if both bedrooms have a queen (or king) bed. That makes the nightly price per person just over thirty dollars a night. That is cheap indeed.
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We have hosted travel nurses. One of them was with us for three months in late 2019/early 2020—right up to the pandemic, in fact.
We did that (not through Airbnb, but with a lease) because our winter months are usually slower. We gave a substantial discount, since we knew we wouldn’t be booked anywhere near as much as we are in other seasons. And having a nurse with us for three months was less work for us than if we’d had daily or weekly turnovers.
The nurses who’ve stayed here have been quiet and very responsible. They work long hours and sleep a lot. They want a quiet place to sleep (and often want a room that can be darkened, if they have to sleep in the daytime).
We would perhaps do that again in the winter with one of our rooms, but not in other seasons, when we have the opportunity to make more money through Airbnb.
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We have absolutely adored all of our travel nurse guests!! But yours doesn’t sound like the ones we’ve hosted.
I was given a big warning by my mother, who has been a community health nurse for her entire life:
“DO NOT provide discounts to travel nurses. They make incredible money and have generous stipends for housing. Am I clear?? Don’t offer discounts, they are totally fine - give them ear plugs for when they are coming off the night shift and a bottle of wine but no discounts.”
We took that to heart and never had an issue at all, as our nurses were happy to have the amenities of a real home instead of a hotel.
What concerns me about your potential guest is that they’re immediately asking for a discount (why would you be interested in a place outside of your budget…? When I’m looking for a STR I don’t message the $$$ ones, I just shoot for the $$ spot that will work for me) and that there “may be” an extra person + dog. Reading between the lines, this sounds like she hasn’t planned ahead, and she doesn’t know how long they could be staying. Not to mention the costs of an additional person and a pet.
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Ugh. So true and I know it to be true and it is the advice I also give. And I also, just a day ago, didn’t take my own (and your mother’s) very good advice. And it immediately bit me right in the ass. So I will share so that others might not make the same mistake.
This is not on Airbnb but a furnished housing site. I was contacted by a nurse, traveling with another nurse (and 2 large dogs) for a 3 month rental for their travel assignments. I responded to her and asked her a couple of questions regarding parking needs and whether or not their dogs were agressive or not (we have a multi-family house with other dogs and a shared yard).
I got back only, “hey would you be willing to compromise for $2000/month?”. Apt is priced at $2300/month so she was asking for quite the discount, did not answer my questions and we also had other folks interested so I was annoyed. I wrote her back and was a bit blunt and thought that would be the end of it. However, she wrote back apologizing, pleaded that they had a budget to stay within but that they still wanted the apt. I felt guilty for being rude so I wrote back and offered them $100/monthly discount.
24-hours later (this morning) she sends me her proof of employment which is her offer letter. She has a monthly housing stipend of $3700, in addition to her $50 per diem ($1500/month) and her $13,000+/month pay rate. MInd you this is just the one nurse. The roommate/friend/partner (whatever) is also a traveling nurse and so likely has a similar deal (but I haven’t received her stuff yet). And they wanted a discount 
I am tempted to write up their lease with my original price and just let them take it or leave it 
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And what are they planning to do with the 2 large dogs while they are at work?
The nurses I know work quite long shifts.
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Well there’s two of them and I hope they are not working the same shifts or are using a Rover service for their dogs. But I am still waiting for that answer. I don’t do background checks on healthcare providers because they already have a lot of that for their jobs and are easy enough to trace (NPI numbers!). But I do confirm employment and I have an “info” sheet and a list of stuff I ask. I have received only partial stuff from them so far (so not holding my breath either 
)
However, it’s a really good question that anyone hosting healthcare providers (especially nurses because they often work 12-hour shifts) should get a detailed answer to.
A couple of weeks ago, I was going back and forth with a different travel nurse. She was coming alone but with 3 dogs. I am actually ok with 3 dogs if they are well-behaved, so that was not the problem. The problem was that she was going to be working 12-hour shifts x 4 days week in another town that is 1hr20 min away. She was not going use a Rover (dog walking/sitting) service but instead she was going to crate them while away 
It would be almost 15-hours/day that those dogs would be crated and alone. 
I told her no because I knew wouldn’t be able to refrain from calling Animal Control and turning her in and having her dogs taken away from her.
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I find it hard to understand why anyone would even have dogs if they intended to crate them for 15 hours a day and thought that was okay.
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Well, none of her dogs were young but she was a newer nurse. I am guessing that she already had the dogs when she became a nurse. But she doesn’t have to work those 12 hour shifts at a hospital, she’s doing that for the money. Which begs the question, why not hire a dog walker/sitter?
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All of the nurses I have communicated with want a huge discount, They all say they can’t pay more than 1300 a month which is BS. It says in my listing I don’t give discounts so please don’t ask. I think people that want discounts could end up being complainers, this business is hard enough and my prices are fair, just go somewhere else please
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She may very well have to work 12 hour shifts, not a choice. My nurse friends do, they don’t just get to pick and choose the number of hours in a shift. Those things are negotiated by their unions.
Personally, I think 12 hour shifts for nurses are crazy. How can you be alert enough when you’ve been on the job for 11 hours (and they have a hard job) to safely administer medication or correctly fill out paperwork without any errors? Seems like a lot to expect.
The only nurses I know who get that kind of money are Covid19 and describe their work as entering a war zone.
Also perdeims are based on market and the food is usually for work days only.
The work is exhausting & emotionally draining; 12-18 hour shifts, 3-6 days a week.
Depending on PPE, wearing hot masks & isolation gowns or complete isolation suits. That means many wear adult diapers because going to the bathroom is difficult. Plus meals are difficult too
The job leaves them exhausted, and is potentially life endangering (vaccine doesn’t provide protect for all variants).
They have the weight of someone’s life on their shoulders. If they make a mistake, it could be deadly.
Contract RNs usually have no benefits (no: health insurance, dental, vacation, retirement (sometimes a 401k yes))
There is no guarantee of a future assignment.
At least 2 hours away from home, usually much further.
The job requires a minimum of. 3 year ADN or 4 year BSN (I should finish my tuition loans by the time I retire).
Also as Covid vaccinations increase, the need for the Covid RNs will decrease. This pay rate won’t continue. Currently medical staff are beyond burnout.
If the RN has the stamina to do 9 of 12 months and the pay stays high that is less than $117,000.
A traditional worker with a base pay of $80,000 plus benefits actually earns more.
I don’t have the physical stamina to do the 12-16 hour shifts any more plus I haven’t been bedside in many years. The medical staff especially riding out this last wave are worth more than gold.
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Traveler RNs will often partner with others to provide pet care or put pets in doggie daycare.
The standard schedule is 12 work hours but add on a 30 minute meal beak so onsite 12.5 hours. Shifts can go up to 18 hours.
The long shifts is one of the reasons older nurses are moving away from bedside, a3 day work week is nice though.
One of my best and oldest friends has been an ICU nurse in the same hospital for 30+ years. She works 12 hour shifts, weekends only, nights. Occasionally she takes another midweek shift for someone. It suits her very well but obviously it’s not for everyone.
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I don’t understand why you are directing a response that pleads the hard work of nurses to me. My post wasn’t about nurses, it was about tacky-discount seekers. They just happened to be nurses. These are run-of-the-mill greedy people who just happen to be nurses, who are actively taking advantage of the Covid situation. These women are not heroes, they are greedy folks. They are doing it for a whole lot of money and then trying to get a discount on their rent, for no reason. In fact they have 2 very large dogs that no one in at least 100 miles would take except for me and I don’t charge an extra deposit or extra rent for these dogs. But I do charge a fair rent that covers my expenses and the (very expensive) utilities. All of our other tenants have made a fraction of their income and they never asked for a discount.
It doesn’t matter that they are working Covid units because I have a ton friends doing exactly the same thing (and, yes, wearing diapers for 12 hours) that are still making the exact same shameful low wage that were making before Covid. They are tired of dealing with these Covid travelers that constantly talk about taking next year off because they are making so much money this year. I really don’t think that your post about how hard nurses work applies to these women. And my friends that are nurses, who are indeed wearing diapers at work and have actual scars on their faces from masks, also thought that these 2 nurses acted in bad faith and poor taste.
My message to other hosts was merely that just because someone is a travel nurse, it does not mean that need a discount (nurse assistants yeah but not nurses). Judge them on their income and your other requirements, just like anyone else. They don’t get to be run-of-the-mill-tacky-discount seekers just because they are nurses. And they also should look for places within their budget, just like anyone else. But these nurses didn’t actually have a budget issue, did they? They were just being cheap and greedy and I am loathe to contribute to it. They are taking advantage and making more than twice as much as staff nurses and still want to pay less for rent than people that aren’t taking advantage. Once you take advantage and make more than you should for a job you chose to do, then you can’t also be a beggar, it’s a choice. Big money or charity, pick one. I’ve been there myself, taking crap assignments for the larger paycheck, but I certainly didn’t push it by bragging to other staff or trying to rip off my landlord.
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